NATLE FYI

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

A blast went out yesterday about the two exciting additions ahead of the Governmental Affairs Conference.  A trolley ride and mansion tour is open to all NATLE members arriving at the Hotel Viking by 2pm on Saturday (11/9/24).  A minimal charge ($25) on pre-ordered tickets will supplement the cost of the trolley rental and admission to The Breakers.  After the self-guided tour through the mansion and a drive out to Fort Adams, the trolley will bring us back to the Hotel Viking by 5:30pm in time for Happy Hour at The Fastnet Pub, sponsored by Esquire Bank.  (Seating on the trolley is limited and as of this morning, we have 19 left.  Let me know if you’d like to join this excursion around Newport’s historic district, as well as Fort Adams, by email and how many tickets you’d like.)

In the meantime, registration is open and we strongly suggest making your hotel reservations since our program is over a holiday weekend.  If you’re at the step of making your flight arrangements, Boston (BOS) is 63 miles from Newport and Providence Airport (PVD) is 18 miles.

After a minorly rocky effort, the dues renewal notices went out on Friday.  MemberCentral is very aware that having a single link available to pay a TLA’s entire membership dues invoice would be appreciated, but the idea needs a bit of grassroots advocacy to bring it forward from the back burner.  Encourage your favorite MCer to drive the focus toward the dues invoices once they have the payment solutions upgrade fully implemented.  I know I’m not the only one who wants to make the process less burdensome…I have to think that law firms ask for this all the time when paying their TLA dues.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend,

P.S. In case you’re still here…Ever have one of those days when just about everything goes right and you feel super productive?  Yesterday checked all the boxes for me.  I really enjoy setting up the blasts that go out about our events, the latest being the trolley and mansion tour tickets for Newport.  I found the perfect images, the links worked this time, and it’s fun to offer a little extra event to look forward to as something we can do together.  Only gathering a few times a year makes these meetings feel like a salve to the soul.  By that, I mean that it’s comforting to be with friends, new and old, who “get it”.  Common knowledge of what we all experience on a daily basis in all aspects of operating and maintaining a trial lawyer association, is an immediate ice-breaker and a hurdle we clear by a mile that would otherwise slow down the introductions with someone outside the TLA arena.  So, getting back to my day, when I can cross to-dos off my list AND the weather is spectacular (mid to upper 70s and low humidity) AND I have a house project to look forward to (more on that later), I can get out of my own head and truly delight in hearing about my friend’s second date with her “Canada Guy”, aka Troy.  Their doggies get along (that’s huge) and he made her a peanut butter pie for her birthday.  Hmm, is it too soon to ask if he has an older brother?

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

The 4th Monday Zoom Series on Monday was a great discussion of Event Apps: Who’s Using What & What Are the Pros/Cons?  Participants on both sides of the use-it-or-not fence indicated that there may be enough interest from multiple TLAs to be an advantage if NATLE can negotiate a base deal with the app vendors.  If you haven’t yet completed the short survey about event apps, let us know the features you’d like, ie. registration, communication, materials distribution, etc.  A link to the recording and the app comparison chart is on our website.

Speaker profiles have started to come out as eblasts for the November 10-12 Governmental Affairs Conference.  The Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, Lavora Barnes, is coming to talk with us about the election and the media, and Roger Finderson, President of WILG, will give an update on workers’ comp law including cannabis and impairment ratings. Registration is open and we strongly suggest making your hotel reservations since our program is over a holiday weekend.  If you’re at the step of making your flight arrangements, Boston (BOS) is 63 miles from Newport and Providence Airport (PVD) is 18 miles.

We are working on two exciting additions to the Saturday (11/9/24) afternoon when most people will arrive for the GAC.  The Board meeting has been moved up to noon to accommodate a trolley ride and mansion tour (2pm to 5pm).  A minimal charge ($25) will supplement the cost of the trolley rental and admission to the Breakers.  If you won’t arrive in time for the 2pm trolley departure from the Hotel Viking, we will gather as a group from 5pm to 6:30pm at a nearby watering hole [tbd] before we split up for dinner on the town.  More details to come!

The Scholarship application deadline to attend the GAC has been extended to Monday, September 2.  We will award the scholarship to a Regular or Associate member of NATLE, so please submit!

Dues renewal notices will go out later today.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great [Labor Day, to our US members!] weekend,

P.S. In case you’re still here…Last night, I finished reading Gulliver’s Travels, which I can only describe as a 2-week slog.  No offense to any English majors – I dated one in college and I had to admire his perseverance, since some of the books he had to read would top my list of kindling for the fire pit.  I stuck with Swift’s fictional romp through lands of tiny people and giants, floating islands, and countries where the horses are the ruling class, to the bitter end.  I wish I knew more than, well, next to nothing, about 17th and 18th century British politics so the metaphors would have made more sense, and I regularly regretted not having the CliffsNotes (do they still exist?!) to go along with it.  The book was in the library Mom cultivated through the years, complete with shelves labeled by genre, and I pulled the title just because I’d never read it and had to know why it endured.  You can’t go through life without hearing multiple references to Gulliver and his run-ins with the Lilliputians…heck, Lilliputian is even an adjective.  There have only been a few books that I’ve ever given up on, but I persevered with this one though every time I realized that I’d just gotten to the end of a paragraph and couldn’t recall a single word, I pushed ahead without looking back.  One question persists and that’s about the race of people called Yahoos, the hairy, “unteachable” humans in the upside-down world ruled by horses.  Is this where the term “yahoo” originated – I grew up hearing it to mean, country bumpkin – and also, what were the developers thinking when they named their search engine “Yahoo!”?

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

The program for the November 10-12 Governmental Affairs Conference will be uploaded this afternoon on the event page.  The Planning Committee is waiting for a few more speaker confirmations, but we want you to see the agenda, so far.  Registration is open and we strongly suggest making your hotel reservations since our program is over a holiday weekend.  If you’re at the step of making your flight arrangements, Boston (BOS) is 63 miles from Newport and Providence Airport (PVD) is 18 miles.

The Scholarship application deadline to attend the GAC is Monday, August 26.  We hope to award the scholarship to a Regular or Associate member of NATLE, so please submit!

We have a few dozen registrants for the 4th Monday Zoom Series this coming Monday (August 26) for a discussion that was pulled from the ListServ as needing further exploration.  Event Apps: Who’s Using What & What Are the Pros/Cons? will be facilitated by NATLE members Karen St. Aubin and Mary Learned.  We will have a balance of current users with experience to impart, as well as those looking for answers on the end-user details, like cost.  Click on either of the links to register and join the conversation.  Let your counterparts know what you use or learn about what’s out there.  Those who have their favorite apps are encouraged to share their screen for a brief demo.

If you attended the Annual Meeting in Nashville, you know how engaging our first speaker, Beth Ziesenis, is with a topic as rapidly-evolving and malleable as AI.  She geared her interactive and entertaining presentation to the TLA audience and really appreciated the questions and scenarios posed by those in attendance.  Just for NATLE members, she is offering a $1,000 discount for in-person and online events if you are interested in having her present to your group!  This flyer has her contact info.  (Fun fact: It’s Find Your Inner Nerd Day and Beth Z is Your Nerdy Best Friend!)

Dues renewal notices will go out next week.  I have reached out to several TLAs that had credit balances and applied the funds toward dues.  As we approach the end of our fiscal year, it’s personally exciting to clean up the loose ends.  Another case in point, our total Invoice Aging line is $0.

TLA EDs: There are about 22 TLAs that haven’t yet submitted a Staff Benefits Survey.  Please take a few minutes and fill in the mostly yes/no responses in the benefits columns for your staff positions.  (No need to include the ED/CEO role, we’ll cover that position in the CEO Compensation Survey later this year.)  The results will be anonymized and compiled ahead of the Board’s meeting in September, and the final report will be distributed to the participating TLAs ASAP.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend,

P.S. In case you’re still here…I do well with lists.  I don’t mean the electronic communication platforms, but good ol’ fashioned pen-to-paper lists of to-do’s.  There are a few days a year here at NATLE HQ (haha, that makes me think of MI-6) when I feel like I’m either trying to sip from a firehose or I’ve fallen through the ice on a frozen pond and every time I think I’ve found a solid piece to climb out on, it crumbles and I’m back to treading water.  I don’t mean it to sound quite that dire and I emphasize that it’s a rare occurrence, but when I’m just keeping up with what’s coming in, be it new members (yay), refund requests (boo), or random inquiries from what sound like summer interns at potential vendors (meh), I rely on lists to not forget the tasks I mean to tackle that day.

P.P.S. It’s National Sponge Cake Day, but I’ll let you in on one of my bugaboos.  I HATE soggy bread.  Yah, I know.  I also despise “fruity bumps”, but I’ll leave that for another time.  If someone’s serving strawberry shortcake, I’ll take mine with the strawberries and cream on the side, thank you very much, and don’t get me started on French onion soup or Indian pudding.

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

Our Platinum Justice Partner, SBA Funding Group, is working on a few questions/concerns brought up by the Justice Partner Working Group and as soon as they're ready, we’ll set up a time for them to present their insurance program to the NATLE Board.  If approved for a Partnership, Q&A sessions will be held by zoom to announce the program to the membership.

The November 10-12 Governmental Affairs Conference event page is open for registration and the brochure is in the works, just waiting for speakers and session titles to be confirmed.  Again, if you’re at the step of making your flight arrangements, Boston (BOS) is 63 miles from Newport and Providence Airport (PVD) is 18 miles.

We have 15 registrants for the upcoming 4th Monday Zoom Series this month (on August 26) that was pulled from the ListServ as a need for discussion -- Event Apps: Who’s Using What & What Are the Pros/Cons? will be facilitated by NATLE members Karen St Aubin and Mary Learned.  Click on either of the links to register and join the conversation.  Let your counterparts know what you use or learn about what’s out there.  Those who have their favorite apps are encouraged to share their screen for a brief demo.

Does anyone use AND have a contact for Asana?  We’re looking into having a Q&A / Demo, but I can’t figure out how to reach them since their recent “personnel shuffle”.

TLA EDs: There are 22 TLAs that haven’t yet submitted a Staff Benefits Survey.  Please take a few minutes and fill in the mostly yes/no responses in the benefits columns for your staff positions.  (No need to include the ED/CEO role, we’ll cover that position in the CEO Compensation Survey later this year.)  The results will be anonymized and compiled ahead of the Board’s meeting in September, and the final report will be distributed to the participating TLAs ASAP.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend,

P.S. In case you’re still here…it’s an official Vermont holiday today, Bennington Battle Day.  Beyond the fife and drum parades, BBQs, and 5K races, the day commemorates a battle that dealt a huge loss to General Burgoyne and his troops several miles outside Bennington (technically in NY) in 1777.  The British army was marching south from Canada toward Albany with the hopes of resupplying food, horses, and artillery on the way in Bennington.  Instead, the wily Green Mountain Boys from Vermont, plus militiamen from New Hampshire and New York foiled their plans.  For military strategy buffs, this must be a fascinating battle to orchestrate on scale models, moving about the scouts who were checking out the opposition and the subsequent attacks from the flanks that reduced the British and their German, Canadian, Loyalist, and Indigenous allies by a factor of 7-to-1, with the rest captured.  State offices are closed today, so I hope those employees take a moment to think about this Battle that’s described as a pivot toward the eventual American victory in the Revolutionary War and perhaps the reason we don’t all sound like Hugh Grant and Dame Judy Dench.
P.P.S. It's also National Backflow Prevention Day, but...is it really parade-worthy?  I mean, we all need it, but I'm not thawing the brats for this one.

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

The November 10-12 Governmental Affairs Conference event page is open for registration and I was reminded that the bridge over to Newport no longer has toll booths.  They opted for the much faster automatic billing via the license plate reader, so save your dollars for the vending machine…they, at least, still take greenbacks, don’t they?  If you’re at the step of making your flight arrangements, Boston (BOS) is 63 miles from Newport and Providence Airport (PVD) is 18 miles.

Fresh from the ListServ discussion, our 4th Monday Zoom Series this month (on August 26) will be Event Apps: Who’s Using What & What Are the Pros/Cons?  Register for the zoom link and join the conversation.  Let your counterparts know what you use or learn about what’s out there.  Those who have their favorite apps are encouraged to share their screen for a brief demo.

Does anyone use AND have a contact for Asana?  We’re looking into having a Q&A / Demo, but I can’t figure out how to reach them since their recent “personnel shuffle”.

TLA EDs: if you haven’t yet submitted your Staff Benefits Survey and you want to beat me to the punch of following up with you, please take a few minutes and fill in the mostly yes/no responses in the benefits columns.  The results will be anonymized and compiled ahead of the Board’s meeting in September, and the final report will be distributed to the participating TLAs ASAP.

If you are interested in receiving the book, JuryBall, by our Annual Meeting’s Working Lunch sponsor, Sean Claggett, please contact Julie Ostrovsky, Deputy Executive Director, Nevada Justice Association.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend,

P.S. In case you’re still here…I love a good courtroom drama, think Scott Turow and John Grisham, so I succumbed to temptation and watched The Burial on Prime this week.  It may not have quite the “you can’t handle the truth” moment, but it definitely has more than a few fist-pumping “yeah, take that, you pompous windbag” scenes.  I watch a movie with a different mindset when I know it’s based on real life.  While Willie E. Gary is portrayed as a flashy, diamond-encrusted, private plane-owning, personal injury attorney – presumably a bit over-the-top for cinematic effect – he sees the injustice in the David vs. Goliath match up.  The small businessman, played by Tommy Lee Jones, starts the lawsuit to protect his legacy, but the text at the end of the movie soothes the soul by explaining that the real-life Mr. O’Keefe sets up a foundation with the money finally awarded after an appeal to help local organizations.  (Though, a deeper dive through Google leaves me a tad chilled on this count.)  The soundtrack alone is worth the two hours, from “Stand By Me” to “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” that gets me every time.  If you last through the initial actor’s list ahead of the credits, you’re treated to an awesome cameo of the actual Willie E. Gary as just Mr. G.  I’d love to shake that man’s hand some day.

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

The Justice Partner Working Group met with SBA Funding Group and NFP, their partner in their about-ready-for-NATLE insurance program.  Once the initial quirks are worked out, we will set up a zoom with the Board so SBA/NFP can make their presentation and answer any remaining questions and concerns.  They are working on a portal that will allow you and your members to choose from personal (ie. auto, pet) and professional (ie. WC, malpractice) lines of insurance.  NPF acts as a broker to evaluate current coverage(s) and find the right carrier(s) for each policy, with no obligation.  This will be an opt-in program similar to the email campaign offering loans to your law firms through the SBA.

Submissions on the Staff Salary Survey are limping along at a 40% response rate.  For the TLAs who don’t submit by the end of today, I will follow up next week so that I have enough time to compile the results ahead of the Board’s meeting in September.  I’ll then incorporate any suggestions before distributing to the participating TLAs.

August’s 4th Monday Zoom Series is responding to the immediate discussion on the ListServ about Event Apps: Who’s Using What & What Are the Pros/Cons?  Register for the zoom link and join the conversation.  Let your counterparts know what you use or learn about what’s out there.  Those who have their favorite apps are encouraged to share their screen for a demo.

The registration is open for the Governmental Affairs Conference, November 10-12, in Newport, RI.  I’ve fielded a few inquiries about which airport makes the most sense.  Boston (BOS) is 63 miles from Newport and Providence Airport (PVD) is 18 miles.  There’s a toll bridge onto the island so have a few dollars handy.  Newport is very walkable – getting from the hotel to the main drag with many amazing restaurants is 10 minutes and reaching the mansions is just under 2 miles.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend,

P.S. In case you’re still here…I know you all know what it’s like the week or two after a conference.  All of the follow-ups and to-do tasks jostling for the top of the priority list can make it hard to work on anything new.  After the Annual Meeting, I finally feel like I can move on to what’s ahead rather than what’s in the rearview mirror, and there’s a lot to look forward to.  I rely on lists to keep track of everything on NATLE’s plate, but if it seems like an idea or an opportunity you’ve suggested or heard mentioned may be gathering dust, please send me a reminder and I’ll see that it gets floated back up to the top.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

2024 Annual Meeting attendee responses to “What will you tell your Board about this meeting?”:

“The free flowing conversation always yields the best tips and ideas. This was no exception. It also motivates me and to try new tools and change up tired practices. It’s worth every minute and dollar.”

 “That this was the most impactful conference I have been to since starting my job.”

 “We are all engrossed in our own associations and this gives us the ability to step back and look at things from other perspectives. I always take away something useful. I also just enjoy the camaraderie.”

I was excited to hear a few long-timers say that they think this was the best NATLE conference…ever.  That’s really high praise and I’m grateful to the Planning Committee members for their thoughtful selection of topics and presenters.  The evaluations reflect this level of satisfaction with the program, though the food left a lot to be desired.  They also provide a lot to consider for future programs: starting earlier – 7:30 was suggested, better breakfasts, just coffee and no breakfast, more breaks, wifi (the hotel charges $10 per person per day; there was dedicated wifi for the presenters), implementing a buddy program with pre-event zoom meet-ups.

The GAC Planning Committee met this week and is firming up the agenda and tossing around ideas for social events.  A save-the-date announcement will go out early next week to NATLE members, as well as our Justice Partners.  I will be recruiting sponsorships to help defray the cost of providing an improved F&B menu to respond to the requests we heard from the Annual Meeting.  If you have suggestions for new partners, please introduce them to the incredible network that NATLE represents, and I can take it from there!

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend,

P.S. In case you’re still here…Who knew that bowling could bring out the party animals?  After the roller coaster of emotions on Sunday – I started the day as I’d mentioned in the COP meeting on Saturday feeling like a deer in headlights, to the stunning announcement that Biden stepped back from running, to adjusting to a new and unfamiliar sense of hope for the future – the lanes attracted our Social Event goers like newly hatched baby sea turtles to the ocean.  (Whenever you have an opportunity to thank the TrialSmith/MemberCentral crew, please do.  Not only do they sponsor these events, but they are constantly working on making improvements to the AMS for us, they’re responsive, and recognize that it’s a mutually beneficial relationship.)  Back on the home front, my patio is definitely not calling to me like those bowling lanes.  The crabgrass coming up between the pavers reminds me that nature will unflinchingly reclaim whatever we’ve built and tilled just like in that post-apocalyptic book, The World Without Us.  I hate to say it, but RoundUp may be my best friend in this weekend’s to-do list

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

The Microsoft/Crowdstrike software update SNAFU is creating a memorable and inauspicious start to the Annual Meeting.  Persistence is king, though, and I’ve heard from a handful who are working their way through the system to get to Nashville.  I am including a link here to the directory of the meeting attendees for all members to see.

Just a reminder that the Happy Hour is tonight at 5pm at the “Livin’ It Up Rooftop Suite” at the Margaritaville Hotel (one block from the Omni).  Bring your AAJ badge since you’ll need it later to get into the AAJ Opening Reception.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend,

P.S. In case you’re still here…I’ll call it a case of a bait ‘n switch.  My frugality-fueled adventure of taking the Nashville city bus from the airport was off to a great start.  I waited for about 20 minutes with a boisterous group of ladies I guessed was on a girl’s trip.  The first of the two busses on this journey pulled up and we piled on without incident.  Being the over-prepared traveler that I am, I had the full list of the stops the bus could make before we arrived at my transfer point for the second bus.  When it looked like we were getting close, I asked the driver if he stops there automatically or if I should get off now since it was obvious that we were already at a stop where the sign indicated that it was also a stop for the #55 bus.  He suggested that because the neighborhood surrounding the stop I was aiming for “wasn’t so good”, I should get off now.  I grabbed my suitcase and hoisted myself off.  I didn’t wait long, and I wasn’t alone…there was a gentleman sitting on the bench who quietly swayed to some unseen sea swells.  He apparently didn’t need to get where I was going and didn’t get up when the bus came.  Considering the beautiful condition of the first bus, it was somewhat of a shock to get on the second.  To call it a bus doesn’t do it justice.  It was more of a homeless shelter on wheels.  I sat down next to another gentleman – at least I think it was, he had his head down and shaggy hair over his face – who held his walker in one hand and an open bottle of what I only hoped was really Mountain Dew, as per the label, in the other.  As I got on, I’d told the driver that I was headed for the Omni and, seeing that I may have been out of my element, he said “I got you.”  And, he did.  He let me know exactly where to get off and pointed me in the right direction to get to the hotel.  Truly, my fellow passengers were harmless, but it’s also true that I stuck out a wee bit.  I made it just fine, but a $2 bus ride didn’t save much over the $16 Uber, so I think I’ll splurge on the way back to the airport.

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

With the Annual Meeting just over a week away, my desk(top) is awash in Excel (budget), Word (ED Report), MC Control Panel (blast announcements), Adobe (BOD and MBM packets), not to mention Outlook (everyday emails).  I just handed off the directory to Virginia Flanagan (new-ish NATLE member and saint for taking it off my plate).  This directory is a welcome feature that helps everyone get to know (or remember) new friends and long-time colleagues.  We should be able to distribute the directory on Monday.

The Happy Hour on Friday (July 19th at 5pm), will be at the “Livin’ It Up Rooftop Suite” at the Margaritaville Hotel (one block from the Omni).  Bring your AAJ badge since you’ll need it later to get into the AAJ Opening Reception.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend,

P.S. In case you’re still here…yes, Beryl whipped through Vermont this week and caused major flooding in the same areas that were swamped exactly a year ago to the day.  At this point last year, a restaurant owner in Waterbury, VT, had only moved in five weeks prior to the first flood and he’s just experienced his third.  I’ve been through the whole water-in-the-basement ordeal, though nothing to extent those folks have had to deal with.  For half the month of April 2011, Vermont had storms that brought 3-5 inches over average rainfall.  The ground was so saturated at my old house in northwest VT, that the sump “drain” in my basement looked like a firehouse…very disconcerting when the water flows in the wrong direction.  My second flood came when a hefty, unnamed storm hit on July 4th 2012, and brought a few inches into the basement of my childhood home that I’ve since moved back into.  I remember the date because it was the day after my mother died and I was so grateful that my family was here to help with the clean-up and maintain my sanity.  My stepbrother helped me redirect the downspouts from the addition Mom had recently had built and I have been spared ever since.  I still creep downstairs during a storm just to check.  Even that relatively little experience was traumatic and I don’t wish it on anyone.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day and had an opportunity to engage and thank a veteran.

There’s still time to make suggestions for our Annual Meeting’s opening speaker, Beth Z, to help prepare her for any particular uses of AI that you want to learn.  Her presentation is, “Beyond ChatPT: 24 Fabulously Fresh Ways to Use Generative AI for TLA Professionals”.  I’ve given her some direction on what we would like to learn, but it would be great to give her your ideas of how you want to use AI.

We are now two weeks away from our Annual Meeting and I will provide the Omni with our numbers next week.  If you’re still on the fence about attending, please register as soon as possible so that you’re included in our count.  I’ll send out a What-to-Know-Before-You-Go blast next week with hints on airport transportation, the weather forecast, and restaurant suggestions for Saturday night.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend,

P.S. In case you’re still here…a man I truly admired passed away this week.  Phil was the older brother of a friend I’ve had since almost my Day One.  I was two months old when Patrick was born and we grew up together – same babysitters and most of our schooling.  Phil and Pat’s father worked with my mother at The University of Vermont conducting cancer research on unsuspecting rats, but I digress.  Phil had earned his PhD in physics from Harvard, he was encyclopedia-smart, and could debate with the best.  Over the last 20-plus years, he’d also developed the worst case of scoliosis I’d ever seen, but I never heard him complain.  He died two weeks shy of his 50th high school reunion and was ambivalent about going, in part, because none of his classmates had seen him and his now 90-degree posture in decades.  I love to think that there’s something to the “great beyond” and that Phil is standing tall in a cool stream, fly fishing again with his dad.  Pat and I spent the first of what will hopefully be several times together reminiscing about Phil and his quirks.  It’s strangely cathartic to laugh and to cry over things that now just make us shake our heads.

P.P.S. It’s National Bikini Day, but I’ll take a hard pass on that one.  It’s also National Workaholics Day, so, while I don’t entirely subscribe, maybe it’s a tad more apropos.  Anyone else in the office??